Go ahead, caller

Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger made a surprise appearance Monday on C-SPAN, weighing in on the precarious state of world affairs during the open-phone segment of “Washington Journal.”

“You’re on the air. Go ahead, Republican,” said the program host.

“Yes, I was in the first Bush administration . . .”

“Is that Lawrence Eagleburger?” the surprised host asked.

“Yes, sir. I’d like to make three quick comments,” Eagleburger continued.

One of the comments was to caution those who are quick to criticize the Israeli military response in Lebanon. Eagleburger said Israel is “surrounded by states who say they want to destroy” it.

And he warned that if the United States and its allies “don’t do something about Iran and its building of nuclear weapons, and North Korea and its building of nuclear weapons, there’s going to come a time about 10 years from now when Americans are going to look back and say, ‘What in the devil were we doing sitting there watching this develop?’”

As soon as the former secretary hung up the phone, the C-SPAN host stated for the record: “That was not set up. He called on his own.”

FIGHTING WORDS

“To all the Republicans who sit in their air-conditioned offices and talk of the courage it takes for them to keep young kids in harm’s way, I say enough. (And White House aide) Karl Rove talking about ‘cutting and running’ while he sits on his big, fat backside saying ‘stay the course,’ I say enough. That’s not a plan.” — Or so Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat, wrote in a Democratic Party fund-raising letter this week.

PASS THE WORM

Building a massive fence along the U.S.-Mexican border will be the subject of a hearing Thursday in the House, which passed a bill last year calling for the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the porous border.

President Bush, who once said better fences make bitter neighbors, came around this spring to say he would support 370 miles of fencing, but no more.

Meanwhile, we learned Monday that as more and more Mexicans — illegal or otherwise — continue to flood into the United States, the demand for indigenous Mexican food and beverages is increasing to the point that it has become a “booming” industry, both for suppliers in Mexico and distributors in this country.

According to the firm Market Research, the Mexican food industry in the United States is estimated at $52 billion and growing, with seven in 10 surveyed households using Mexican food and ingredients.